Rotating tooth brush



Feb. 13, 1940. A FL UR'NQ 2,189,891

ROTATING TOOTH BRUSH Filed June 23, 1937 flddson H 7 7loufn@ on M (KM Q3%M Patented Feb. 13, 1940 uNirso STATES PATEN I, ROTATING TOOTH BRUSH?Addison- H. Flournoy, Washington, D. Application June" 23; 1937, SerialNo: 149,954 5 Claims. (01. -25) I My invention relates to rotating toothbrushes,

and the present invention is concerned with improvements over the'construction. disclosed in my Patent No; 2,059,330.

An object of the presentinven'tion .is to devise a rotatable tooth brushwhich may be operated with one hand and which embodies a speedmultiplying gear set for increasing the speed of'the illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in Whichi Figure l is a side elevational View ofthe rotate ing tooth brush assembly;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view showing the brush element and the speedmultiplying gear arrangement in longitudinal section;

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken along the line 33"ofFigure 2;

Figure 4- is an enlarged endview of the brush element; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 66 of Figure 2.i

Referring to the drawing, l indicates a handle for the brush which maybe formed of any suitable material, and 2 indicates a shaft secured tothe handle l by any suitable means such as screw la. The shaft 2 isprovided with an enlarged head 2a to which is secured the housing 3 of adifferential gear arrangement, the gear housing 3 being secured to theflange 2a by means of suitable screws 3a passing through a plate 4arranged on the outer face of the housing 3, passing through the housing3' and having threaded engagement with the flange 2a, as clearly shownin Figure 2. Rotatably journaled on shaft 2 is a turning element 5 whichis provided with an enlarged cylindrical flange 5a extending over thegear casing 3. Mounted within the cylindrical flange 5a and rotatingtherewith is an internal ring gear 6 which engages with three idlergears la, 1b and 1c journaled in the gear housing 3. gear housing 3 isformed of two circular plates provided with abutting cylindrical flangesformed at the periphery of the plates, and idler gears 1a, 1b and 1c aremounted on stub shafts, the

ends of 'which are journaled in opposite walls of As shown 'in Figures 2and 3,,

housing 3; theidler gears are arranged so they extend partly out ofslots formed in the cylindrical wall of housing 3. A spur gear 8isrotatably mounted at the center of the gear housing 3- and is providedwith a shaft to extending through the plate 4 and in axial alignmentwith the s'haft 2. A shaft 9, preferably formed of hard resilientmaterial such as celluloid, is

I carried by the shaft 8c and may be secured to the shaft 8a inanysuitable manner as by means of a screw 9a. The end of shaft 9 isprovided with a socket for receiving theend of the spindle of the rotarybrush element l0.

I prefer to form the brush in in the manner illustrated in Figure .2,that is, the brush is formed in a conventional manner by supportingbristles between twisted wires forming a core or shaft 10a, and one endof core lfla is mounted in a sleeve or eyelet lilb which initurn fitssnugly in a socket formed in the end of shaft 9. Core Illa extendsbeyond the sleeve I812 as shown at We in Figure 2, and the extendedportion 190 is compressed or sjwaged into cylindrical formand a pair ofsharpened ribs ltd and We are formed on the cylindrical surface thereof(see Fig. 5) -The cylindrical surface and the sharpened ribs may beformed by pressing or swaging'the end [00 of the-wire core in a suitabledie. This press"- ing operation not only forms the desired shape for'thecore, but it also securely locks the ends of the twisted wires togetherand prevents dis lodgement of the bristles from the brush. Thecompressed portion I00 is forced into a bore formed in the end of shaft9 having anexternal diameter slightly larger than the outsidecylindricaldiameter of the shaft'extension.. As the extension Illc is forced intothe bore, the ribs the spindle of the brush element It and serves toprotect the gum and inner surfaces of the mouth from the bristles of thebrush lil'during operation. This guard element may be formed bymouldingfrom plastic material, but I prefer to form the element bysuitably shaping the guard from sheet material. such as celluloid.'Iheshape of the guard is clearly indicated in Figures 1, 2 and 4. Theouter end of the guard I I is journaled on the outer end of the spindleof brush ID by means of an eyelet IIa having a closed end as illustratedin Figure 2. The inner end of guard II is journaled upon the sleeve Illbby means of an ordinary eyelet Iib as shown in Figure 2. The'outer endof the sleeve Illb is preferably flared outwardly as shown at III inFigure 2. This construction forms an abutment on the sleeve lllb forretaining the eyelet I lb in position and against which force may beapplied to withdraw the shaft I from the socket in the shaft 9 when itbecomes necessary to replace the brush element Ill. The guard II isprovided with rounded edges IIc which prevent injury to the gums orinner surfaces of the mouth brush is being used.

In using the brush, the instrument is grasped in the palm of the hand byhandle I, and, using the thumb and forefinger, the sleeve may be rotatedwith respect to the handle I. The gear casing 3 and the plate 5 are heldstationary with respect to the handle I by means of theshaft 2, androtation of the sleeve 5 causes rotation vof the idler gears la, lb andby reason of engagement of these gears with the internal ring gear 6mounted in the cylindrical extension Ed on sleeve 5. The idler gears inturn cause rotation of the gear 8 at an increased speed over the speedof sleeve 5 determined by the dimensions of the gears 6, Ia and 8respectively. The shaft 9 rotates with the shaft 80. secured to the gear8 and causes corresponding rotation of the brush element I0. It will beunderstood that the guard l l is mounted for free rotation on thespindle of the brush I0 and may be readily positioned within the mouthso as to protect the tongue or the inner surfaces of the cheek fromabrasion by the brush Ill while in use. I

If for any reason it becomes necessary to renew the brush element Iii,the shaft 9 is held by one hand and by grasping the guard II with theother hand, the brush assembly may be withdrawn from the shaft 9 bypulling the two' elements apart, and a new brush element may be insertedinto the socket of shaft 9 without re quiring special instruments forthis purpose. If desired, more than two ribs may be provided on shankIllc, but I find'that two are sufficient.

While all of the elements of my brush, except brush I0, may be formed ofsuitable metal prefer to form the elements I, 5 and 9 of mouldedmaterial such celluloid, bakelite, hard rubber, and the like. 'I alsoprefer to roughen the surface of elements I and5 in any suitable manneras by the longitudinal grooving shown in Figure 1. The shaft 9 ispreferably formed of a relatively small diameter so that the lips may beclosed about this shaft while the brush is in use. The plate 4 formingpart ofthe gear assembly serves as a guard to preventsaliva fromreaching the handle I and the turning element 5.

I have herein described the principle ;of my invention and illustrateda-preferred embodiment thereof. Various modifications will occur tothose skilled in the art, and I desire it to' be understood that allmodifications which fall withinthe terms of the appended claims are tobe considered as falling within the scope of my invention.

What I claim is: r I

1. A tooth brush comprising a handle, a shaft secured to said handle, aspeed'multiplying gearing comprising a casing mounted on the end of saidshaft in spaced relation to said handleand while the having a spur gearjournaled therein, idler gears journaled in said casing and meshing withsaid spur gear, a rotary sleeve mounted directly on said shaft betweensaid handle and said casing and arranged to be rotated by engagementbetween the thumb and forefinger of the same hand that grasps saidhandle, said sleeve being of smaller diameter than said casing and beingprovided with an enlarged cylindrical extension arranged over said gearcasing, an internal ring gear mounted within said cylindrical extensionand meshing with said idler gears, a rotatable shaft secured to saidspur gear and extending out of said casing in axial alignment with saidflrst shaft, and a brush element driven by said rotatable shaft.

2.' In combination, a rotary shaft, a rotary brush having a shaftmounted in a bore in the end of said rotary shaft, a sleeve elementsurrounding the shaft of said brush and being mounted in a socket in theend of said rotary shaft having a diameter larger than the diameter ofsaid bore, said sleeve extending forward of the end of said rotary shaftand being flared at the end thereof, a guard element partly surroundingsaid brush, one end of said guard element being journaled upon saidsleeve element and the outer end of the brush shaft being journaled in asocket bearing formed in the outer end of said guard element, the flaredend of said sleeve andthe end of said rotary shaft serving to .limit theaxial movement of said guard.

3. In a rotatable tooth brush including a handle, a rotatable shaftmounted coaxially on said handle having a cylindrical longitudinallyslotted orifice formed coaxially in its outer end, a rotatable brushcomprising a twisted wire core supporting the bristles of the brushextending beyond both ends of the brush, a bearing formed on one end ofsaid core, a sleeve mounted on the other end of said core having anoutwardly flared portion adjacent the bristles of the brush, said sleevebeing mounted in a socket formed in the end of said rotatable shaft,said core extending beyond said sleeve and having a cylindrical surfacewith longitudinal ribs formed thereon for engagement in thelongitudinally slotted orifice in said shaft, and a guard element partlysurrounding said brush, said guard being rotatably mounted at one end onsaid sleeve and having a socket bearing at the other end journaled uponthe outer end of said core.

4. A brush element comprising a twisted-Wire core supporting thebristles of the brush and. having one end of the core extending beyondthe brush to form a supporting shank, the end portion of said shankbeing swaged into a substantially cylindrical form having integrallongitudinal ribs formed on opposite sides thereof, whereby the swagingof the shank effectively locks together the Wires of the core andprevents ,dislodgment of the bristles of the brush.

, 5 A brush element comprising a twisted-wire lcore supporting thebristles of the brush and having an end of the core extending beyond thebrush to form a supporting shank, the outer portion of said supportingshank being swaged into substantially cylindrical form having integrallongitudinal. ribs formed on opposite sides thereof, and a sleeveelement mounted on said core between said cylindrical portion and saidADDISON H. FLOURNOY.

